Progressing Through the Classical Pilates System
Classical Pilates as a method is designed to be progressive. When you joined Joseph Pilates’ Contrology gym he would teach you the basics first. You would continue to practice these and then when he felt you were ready he would teach you a new exercise to add in, and another, and another, as you progressed through the work.
There are traditionally 34 Classical Pilates mat exercises (technically more if you include exercises Joe latterly included after Return to Life was published), and an even bigger array of exercises & progressions on the Reformer and using the system apparatus. From beginner level to super advanced. Plus all the little variations and layers that your teacher builds in as you are progressing towards new exercises. There is always more to learn in the Classical method!
Not only does the work you do evolve, with new & increasingly challenging exercises, so does your body. Those exercises you learned right at the start will feel different as your body changes. Not necessarily easier - as you evolve your body changes and you can start to connect deeper to the work and squeeze even more out of it. That is why the Classical Pilates method of adding in, not taking away, is so effective. You get more and more out of the exercises every time you do them. You continually evolve , develop and progress.
Why are class levels important?
If you are attending private sessions with us it’s not really about your “level”. You teacher knows you, where you are working, what your body needs, and they will teach you accordingly and progress you as needed
However, if you are attending a group class, then class levels do become important for many reasons:
Getting the foundations right: If you don’t have the foundations established you are going to struggle with the more challenging work. This is because each exercise builds on the foundations set in the previously learned exercises. Skipping a step can leave you feeling as if you are working by guess work to achieve the exercises,. You may miss important details may actually end up progressing more slowly than if you had started with the foundations.
Safety: Individuals have different levels of strength, control and mobility. We want to ensure that clients are placed in to classes that move at the right pace and intensity for their body. Certain exercises are only introduced at a particular level, when your teacher is confident that those in the class will have already developed the right amount of strength and control on that apparatus to be able to do the exercise safely. A good example of that is your kneeling arm circles - Classically we consider that an Advanced exercise because you need a high level of control to do this exercise safely on the Reformer. You need to integrate all those established connections through the body into the apparatus to perform this with control. Circling your arms isn’t difficult - doing it properly with control on a Reformer is. We do not want to see any of those horrendous videos you see on social media of inexperienced clients falling in this exercise when they were so obviously not ready for it!
Pace: Class pace is important. As you progress, we add exercises in and move at greater pace from one exercise to another (see The Importance of Transitions - another blog coming soon!). In an Intermediate Plus or Advanced class we will usually flow through some of those more established exercises, such as stomach massage or knee stretches, at pace because by this time you already know the movement, technique and can perform it well. The change of pace adds a new challenge to the exercise. If you come into a class before you have learned the essential elements of those exercises you may feel as if you are floundering and struggling to keep up - and that is not something we want you to feel!
Focus: At each class level we will focus on the key areas for that class - what exercises you are developing and preparing you for what might be next. With small classes working at a similar level we can tailor this more effectively so that you get the most out of your classes. We want to ensure each person gets a good level of individual attention. If someone comes into a class they are not ready for then our priority is to keep them safe which often means much more of our focus has to be directed to them and the rest of the class can end up missing out which isn’t fair to them.
Progression: More on progression a little later, but having an established framework will help you progress more effectively.
Our Class Levels
Foundations: The entry point after your studio induction. These classes focus on the essential building blocks of the Classical Method. Helping you find strength and connections within your body. Learn how to layer or adapt exercises for you, and progress through these layers as you grow in confidence and ability.
Intermediate: You know your foundations, you can integrate strength and connections and now you are ready to build in more challenging work.
Intermediate Plus: This class is for those ready to bridge the gap between the Intermediate and Advanced work. This is a technically very demanding class that moves at pace.
Advanced: The advanced work is high technical and extremely challenging. Our advanced classes are only suitable for those who have a solid knowledge of the Foundations - Intermediate Plus work, and are by invitation only for your safety.
Progression and Expectations
Managing expectations regarding levels and progressions is so important. Because of the nature of Classical Pilates, and the complexity of some of the exercises, the method and speed of progression is different to say a standard gym fitness class. It isn’t about who can cope with the heaviest weights, or the most intense pace. It is about knowing the work, and about your body and what it needs.
It isn’t even really about the name of the levels - that is just a tool to help you choose the right class. What matters most is how your body evolves.
Some clients will progress into our Intermediate classes and will choose to stay there, because that is the pace that best suits them or they have specific needs in their body that this level of class suits. We even have some clients who prefer to stay in our Foundations classes, because the slower pace of class is better for their body at this time. They are still progressing and evolving in their own body as they continue to practice the work in that class.
Other clients will work through the class levels on a more progressive basis, giving them a sense of something they can work towards and achieve. There are many factors that can impact upon how quickly you progress from one level to another, including:
Consistency: This is the biggest one. Attend once a week and you will progress - but usually quite slowly. Attend two or three times per week and you notice the progression much more and move through the class levels more quickly. If you are inconsistent in how often you come to class you will be limited as to how much you progress. This is because you never quite get into the flow of understanding and exercise and how it should feel in your body - you are always trying to catch up on what you may have forgotten since the last visit
Musculoskeletal conditions: You may have certain things going on in your body that you need to focus on and work with. You may be rebuilding strength after a joint replacement, or returning from injury. You may be working with a condition that requires more tailored adaptation of the work. This may mean slowing the pace a bit so that you can focus on what your body needs.
Baseline fitness: Those with a good baseline fitness coming into Pilates may find progression happens more quickly for them than someone who has been out of action for a while. Those who are already fit and active tend to have more body awareness in general, and greater adaptability within their bodies as they learn new things.
Individuality: We are all different. Our bodies are different, the way we learn is different, and the way we connect with our bodies is different. There is no set pace at which clients are expected to progress. It is about what is right for your body.
Let’s put this into context of how you might progress through our classes…
In general, many of our clients progress through the Foundations into the Intermediate classes. This may happen in a matter of weeks for someone who is attending regularly, to a matter of months or more for someone who is a little more sporadic in their attendance. The Foundations work in full is not easy, there are some challenging exercises that it can take time to master and progress into.
Our Intermediate class is where we spend a lot of time fine tuning technique and building strength. You will learn some new, more challenging exercises, and deepen the work within your body. You can expect to stay in our Intermediate classes for anything from a couple of months for someone attending very regularly, to many months or even a more extended period of time for those who attend less regularly, are working with specific conditions, or prefer this pace of class for them.
Our Intermediate Plus class is a bridge between the intermediate work and the challenges of the Advanced work. The jump from Intermediate to Intermediate Plus is a big one, which is why clients tend to stay with Intermediate for a longer period of time. At Intermediate Plus level you will be introduced to exercises that require a high degree of strength and control within the body. This is the level most of our clients remain at, as it offers them an ongoing challenging class with pace and much to learn!
Our Advanced Class is by invitation only, as these super challenging exercises should only be performed once you can work competently through the exercises you have learned already at the previous levels. These preceding exercises are intended to help you build the strength and control you need to be able to attempt the Advanced work.
How do I know which class to book?
New to us? You will start with a Studio Induction. This can either be via a group Induction workshop or by attending a couple of 1:1s with us. We will guide you through beginner exercises on the Tower, Mat and Reformer, showing you how to use the apparatus safely and covering the basic principles of Classical Pilates.
Completed your induction: Your teacher will advise you on what classes are most appropriate for you. For most people we will advise you to start with our Foundations classes so that you can establish the foundations before progressing through the system when ready.
Ongoing classes: There are two ways you may progress through class levels.
We review our class levels regularly, and if we feel that regular attendees of a particular class are now working at a higher level than the class is listed at we may change the stated level of the class on the timetable. This allows those with a regular spot to all progress together without having to change timeslot
If we feel someone on an individual basis is ready to attend more challenging classes your teacher might suggest to you that you can attend the next level of classes if you would like to challenge yourself further
We try to ensure a sufficient number of classes on our timetable at each level and different times to give clients options and flexibility to attend classes that best suit their schedule. If you are struggling to find classes at the right level for you and at times that work with you please do get in touch and we will advise you accordingly. If you are attending Intermediate Plus or Advanced classes, there is no reason why you cannot drop into a Foundations or Intermediate class from time to time - actually I would encourage it! As you progress through the system we can sometimes get a little complacent in the exercises we have been doing for a long time. Yet they are still important - that's why we add in rather than replace in Classical Pilates - and the more advanced you get the harder you should be working into those exercises as your body has evolved to be able to connect even deeper into the work than you could when you were first learning them. Slowing it down and focussing on those exercises in a Foundations or Intermediate class can help you discover how different they feel now and how you can squeeze a little extra out of those exercises!